DO WE NEED TO QUALIFY IT? HARNESSING THE RIGHT MINDFULNESS FOR GOOD BUSINESS

Author (s) : P.Rajeshwari, J.Uma & V.Amutha

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Abstract :
Dalai Lama was asked if mindfulness itself was inherently ethical. His Holiness responded that “even a suicide bomber would likely have to cultivate some sort of mindfulness” (Whitaker, 2019). What obviously he suggested was not mindfulness per se but the rightful mindfulness. In view of growing, fad-like, reference to mindfulness for personal wellness and for organisational well-being, the term therefore seems to have a self-justifying rationale. The paper thus posits the question stated in its title. Mindfulness has been hailed and occasionally cautioned against. At the one end, it is proposed as a potential cure to the human mind’s distractibility and the organisational vulnerability in the wake of disruptive change that have become neo-normals in the prevalent times. It is hailed as the mind enlightening and heart enlarging practice that has the potential to rid the world of all that ails it. However, at the other end there also have been voices of caution ranging from limits to its therapeutic efficacy to philosophical legitimisation of egotism- individual or organisational. The paper proposes that rather than emphasising mindfulness per se it could be more appropriate to emphasise right mindfulness in the formation of organisational [business] intention/ purpose and influencing business behaviours. The paper, therefore, sets a case for ethical mindfulness in organisational context. Being a propositional paper, it attempts to locate right mindfulness in the organisational and management theories (OMTs). Emphasising that much of organisational behaviour is intentional, the paper draws on the tenets of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) in the formation of organisational intention such that business purpose and business behaviours are directed towards collective flourishing.

Keywords : Mindfulness, Organizational Mindfulness, Ethical Mindfulness, Organisation and Management Theory (OMT), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

Conference Date : 30/08/2019

Pages : 278

Paper ID : 19269